Advanced Solar Cells with Thermal, Radiation, and Light Management for Space-Based Solar Power

Abstract

Space‐based solar power (SBSP) can provide clean and continuous baseload energy by beaming solar power to our planet from photovoltaic arrays in space. While it is widely acknowledged that gigawatt‐level, kilometer‐scale solar stations in space are required to make SBSP a cost‐competitive energy source, these systems can only be viable by implementing lightweight, radiation tolerant, deployable, and low‐cost photovoltaic technologies. Here, advanced solar cells with thermal, radiation, and light management (ASTRAL) is presented, a photovoltaic device conceived for SBSP that consists of an ultra‐thin tandem solar cell with flexible form factors, ultra‐low weight, intrinsic radiation tolerance, and integrated light and thermal management. Through rigorous thermal, radiation, and optical device modeling, it is demonstarted that ASTRAL achieves decades‐long lifetimes on SBSP‐relevant orbits with 30 reduction in radiation shielding mass and corresponding launch costs, all while enabling power generation in excess of 1 kW/m2 at operating temperatures C. Together, these properties make ASTRAL a state‐of‐the‐art photovoltaic technology and a compelling candidate for the practical delivery of SBSP.